Products blog posts and news

Test-drive A Brow Lift At Home

I recently tested out Bring it Up Instant Lifts for a virtual brow lift; that is, see how close I could get to the results of an eyelift or brow lift surgery using the Bring it Up product.

While skeptical, there is something compelling about Bring it Up founder, cosmetologist Denise Horton. Ms. Horton has been down the cosmetic procedure path and was inspired to create Bring it Up after a not-so-great experience with an injectable (one that's not specifically mentioned on the Bring it Up site, but sounds an awful lot like Botox.)

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Fullbar Diet Is Full Of It

Fullbar, created by Dr. Michael A. Snyder, is basically a granola-looking pre-meal bar that you eat, along with 8 oz. of water, 30 minutes prior to your actual meal. The 30-minute lead time allows the bar to bulk up in your stomach, creating a full feeling.

According to the Fullbar site, "With FullBar, you can achieve the same results without the surgery!" Gastric bypass surgery, that is.

The proof is in the pudding (sorry for the mention of dessert) from the Fullbar site:

• 95% of the people who had 10 or more pounds to lose, lost an average of 11.5 pounds in 12 weeks.
• People lose an average of 40% of their excess body weight in just three months.

Here's my beef(s)...

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No! No! Hair Removal On The Today Show

Today Show clip about No! No! Hair removal system and No! No! Smooth After Treatment Cream.

The No! No! Hair Removal System is available at Sephora and costs about $250.

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$19.99 Facelift, Brow Lift, Breast Lift, Too

Watching your wallet but longing for a facelift, brow lift or breast lift? Aside from financing your surgery or putting it off there aren't many options. But Bring It Up Beauty, a California-based company, would like you to believe otherwise with their instant "lift" alternatives.

My first reaction to seeing Bring It Up Beauty's Instant Facelift and Instant Brow Lift was, "You have to be kidding me." If you can imagine all-day-wear Frownies, you're sort of on the right track. If you're a mom to a toddler who's gotten into the Scotch tape and given new meaning to the phrase "self-adhesive", you get the picture as well.

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Making Sense Of The Sensa Weight Loss Program

Sensa is, at first glance, a dieter's dream pixie dust; you sprinkle Sensa powder on EVERYTHING you eat for 6 months and voila!—you lose weight.

Sensa apparently works by playing on your sense of smell to signal your brain to believe you've eaten enough food and, therefore, you stop eating.

The Sensa diet program is the brainchild of Dr. Alan Hirsch, who has put 25 years of research and a seemingly extensive clinical study behind Sensa. Sensa's ingredients can be found everyday food like yogurt, canned fruit, and sugar substitutes like Splenda:

Maltodextrin, Tricalcium Phosphate, Silica, Natural and Artificial Flavors, FD&C Yellow 5, Carmine. Contains Soy and Milk ingredients.

So here's the million dollar question: What if I ate "normal" - including my stash of Lindt Truffles - but used Sensa? Would I lose weight?

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Estee Lauder Smacked In UK For False Wrinkle Reduction Claims

An ad for an Estee Lauder product called Tri-Aktiline Instant Deep Wrinkle Filler has been pulled from circulation in the UK after a woman complained that the product's promises were misleading.

According to Estee Lauder, the product fills in the "cracks" or wrinkles on the skin's surface, resulting in more even texture. The cost of the cream is about £25 for a 30ml tube, or about $38 USD.

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is an independent body set up by the advertising industry to police the rules laid down in the advertising code.

The ASA ordered Estee Lauder to pull the ad, stating that "they were concerned that although such claims required a high level of empirical proof, Estee Lauder had submitted only one study on 23 subjects with no reference to the control group and no evidence that the quantified results would be observable to the consumer or another onlooker."

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Hypnosis As A Botox Alternative: All Hype?

Wrinkle treatments are often marketed as better than Botox, so it comes at little surprise to see another product making the claim.  Yet the latest Botox alternative we've encountered is a bit more unusual than a wrinkle cream.  The wrinkle treatment is called "Hypnox", a concept where consumers listen to hypnotic audio in order to relax their wrinkled complexion.

Hypnox is a hypnotherapeutic audio recording that is supposed to get you to relax wrinkle-forming muscles in the face.  More specifically, the company declares 

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My Anastasia Eye Lift

If you've been following the "what can I do about puffy eyes and dark circles" Q&A on RealSelf.com you might feel tired eyes are something you just have to accept. 

With the medical experts chiming in with answers like, "Treating dark circles is almost impossible" and "Dark circles are VERY hard to treat", it's a dose of reality you might not want.

What's the upside? All that truth may keep you from spending money on would-be wonder creams and focusing on things that actually help. Like makeup.

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New Olay ProX Just More Anti-aging Hype?

Olay's ProX anti-aging skincare line has hit the shelves. Sleek, clean, hard-to-miss red packaging. And a higher price tag than core Olay lines, such as Regenerist. Olay ProX comes in at around $42 per product, or $69 for the starter kit containing all of the products.

But what justifies the price hike for what's basically just another over-the-counter anti-aging skincare line?

The clinical studies for Olay ProX say it provides improved moisture retention and boosts the rate of exfoliation. Sounds good, but that study is in comparison to untreated skin, it's not a comparison to some other OTC chemical exfoliator.

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Hat, Scarf And Phytomer Deep Wrinkle Eraser

As winter continues its forcible entry into my life, I increasingly find myself lugging around all this stuff: hat, gloves, scarf, lip balms (yes, plural), hand cream, heated beverage in travel mug. And I've just added a new one: Phytomer Ogenage Expert Deep Wrinkle Eraser Emulsion.

My skin has reached that point where I can actually see little lines fanning out from the corners of my eyes. I don't mean crow's feet—they're old news. I mean those "expression lines" that hang around for a few minutes after you've allowed your face to move. The ones you wish you could just toss in dryer like you do with your no-time-to-iron rumpled-up button-downs.

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